Electronic
Arts has announced they are looking to buy Take-Two Interactive for a
whopping 2 billion dollars. The article offers the text of a letter sent to
Take-Two from EA Chief Executive Officer John Riccitiello describing the
all-cash offer that has been rejected by Take-Two. EA is now making this public in
the hopes that Take-Two shareholders will find it appealing and exert pressure
on the board to accept it. Here's a summary:

EA’s proposal of $26 per share in cash represents a premium of 64 percent over
Take-Two’s closing stock price on Feb. 15th, the last trading day before EA sent
its revised proposal to Take-Two, and a 63 percent premium over Take-Two’s
30-day trailing average price over the thirty trading days ending on that date.

EA’s proposal was contained in a letter sent on Feb. 19th by EA Chief Executive
Officer John Riccitiello to Strauss Zelnick, Executive Chairman of the Board of
Directors of Take-Two. The Take-Two Board’s subsequent rejection of the EA
proposal led to EA’s decision to release the letter and bring its proposal to
the attention of all Take-Two shareholders.

The EA letter warned that further Take-Two delay in accepting EA’s proposal
could prevent Take-Two’s shareholders and other constituents from realizing its
benefits. “There can be no certainty that in the future EA or any other buyer
would pay the same high premium we are offering today,” Mr. Riccitiello wrote.
The letter added that timely completion of the proposed transaction would allow
EA’s strong publishing and distribution network to positively impact the ongoing
post-launch sales of GTA IV and support the new Take-Two titles scheduled for
launch later in the year and during the holiday selling season.

As noted in EA’s Feb. 19th letter, EA’s proposal is not conditioned on any
financing requirement. It is, however, subject to certain customary conditions
as set forth in the letter. EA’s $26 per share proposal is based on the current
equity capitalization of Take-Two. Although EA indicated in the letter that its
proposal was subject to negotiations commencing by Feb. 22nd, EA intends to keep
its proposal open for the present to give Take-Two’s shareholders and Board of
Directors further time to consider it.